Dry eye in newly diagnosed depression patients

Poster Details

Abstract Details

Purpose:

The idea that psychiatric conditions and not just the treatments themselves might be involved in the pathophysiology of dry eye disease (DED) has been speculated. The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between depression , anxiety and dry eye disease with the use of objective and subjective tests in newly diagnosed depression patients who were not using any medication

Setting:

The study was performed in Balıkesir University Hospital/Turkey.

Methods:

36 consecutive patients from the psychiatry outpatient clinic with a new diagnosis of depression and 32 patients from the ophthalmology clinic who admitted for refractive symptoms were included to the study. All patients were interviewed by the same psychiatrist and met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) IV diagnosis criteria for depression or anxiety.State trait anxiety inventory (Stai) 1, Stai2 and Beck questionnaire as well as the the ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire and visual functioning questionnaire (VFQ25) were completed. The TBUT, lissamine green and schirmer’s test were performed in the opthalmology clinic in that order.

Results:

The comparison of depression and control groups revealed a significantly lower schirmer (20.3±9.9 vs 25.7±9.3 mm) and TBUT (7.8±5.7 vs 12.5±7.8 seconds) scores with a consistently higher Oxford scores (1.8±3.2 vs 0.2±0.4) in the depression group. Although the parameters were affected in the depression group, this did not influence OSDI (86.1±13.6 vs 86.6±13.3) and VRQL (30.8±21.6 vs 38.5±29.1) scores. The 3 psychological test (Stai1-2 and Beck) scores were correlated to each other but none of these tests were correlated to OSDI, VRQL, schirmer, TBUT and oxford staining scores.

Conclusions:

Consistent with the theory that depression is a cause of dry eye disease independent from antidepressant usage, our study shows a definite association between patients newly diagnosed with depression and dry eye disease. . We feel that it is important that psychiatrists take this into account especially while prescribing antidepressants which also aggravates DED.